Affluence and Living Standards (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
Affluence and Living Standards
Following the austerity of the war years and immediate post-war period, Britain experienced a period of widespread consumption during the 1950s and early 1960s. American economist J.K. Galbraith wrote in 1958 of "The Affluent Society" to describe changes taking place across the western world. His pioneering work on Britain, along with "The Age of Affluence" edited by Bogdanor and Skidelsky which appeared 12 years later, documented how after the deprivations of war, Britain entered a period of conspicuous consumption.
Conspicuous consumption refers to an economic situation in which non-essential goods are being bought in greater numbers and value than was previously the norm. This term perfectly captured the consumer revolution that swept through 1950s Britain as ordinary families began purchasing goods that had previously been considered luxuries.
Rising living standards
During the years of Conservative administration, many ordinary people experienced increased purchasing power and access to goods previously considered middle-class luxuries. Home ownership, annual holidays (sometimes abroad), and consumer goods all became more accessible to working-class households.
The expansion in consumer goods ownership was substantial. Motor car ownership on Britain's roads increased from 2.5 million in 1951 to 3.3 million in 1955. Television ownership grew four-fold during the same period. Many older people remembered watching Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 as their first experience of television, viewed either on their family's newly acquired set or at a friend's or neighbour's home.
Writing in the "Listener" in 1959, Abrams noted that an increasing amount of money was being spent on household goods and that ownership of washing machines had become tenfold. Working-class homes, as well as middle-class homes, were becoming places that were pleasant to live in.
The impact of affluence and consumerism
Despite these improvements, historian Kevin Jefferys cautioned against viewing 1950s Britain as universally prosperous. The reality was more complex than simple narratives of widespread prosperity suggested.
Uneven Distribution of Prosperity
By 1960, although the majority of homes boasted a television, the statistics reveal significant limitations:
- Four out of five working-class families still lacked a car
- Two out of three lacked a washing machine
- Nearly nine out of ten lacked a refrigerator
The poorest sectors of society still had few material comforts, and many northern towns failed to share the advances made further south.
While not everyone enjoyed the tangible benefits of consumerism, many more could realistically aspire towards a better lifestyle. The advent of commercial television in 1955, with its regular advertisements, fuelled a desire to move up the social ladder.
Hire-purchase agreements - means of buying goods through a series of part-payments over a period of time, generally at a higher overall cost than for ordinary purchase - enabled more people to acquire consumer goods. This system of deferred payment transformed consumer behaviour, allowing families to obtain goods they could not afford to purchase outright.
If not everyone was yet 'having it so good', many more believed that they could, and should, improve their lot.
Social mobility and the grammar school system
The 1950s is often portrayed as a golden age of social mobility, a time when children of humble birth could rise up the social ladder and achieve a status and prosperity never secured, or even imagined, by their parents. The vehicle for advancement was the grammar school. Many people did succeed in this way, even if they had not done so themselves.
However, a focus upon these genuine success stories can obscure the experience of the majority of the population.
The Reality of Limited Social Mobility
The statistics paint a sobering picture:
- Roughly 75% of the population had their fate effectively sealed by selection at age 11
- Their subsequent second-class education in a secondary modern school produced career prospects limited to a working life in a factory or, at best, routine office administration
- In some ways the grammar school tended to confirm, rather than break, the country's existing class structure
Children had a far greater chance of securing a grammar school place if they came from middle-class rather than working-class households. One 1954 report suggested that a third of those children of unskilled or semi-skilled parents who did succeed in reaching the grammar school did not stay on until the sixth form. Their priority, or perhaps their parents' priority, was to leave school, get a job and contribute to the family income.
Key Points to Remember:
- Post-war Britain experienced unprecedented increases in consumer goods ownership, with car ownership rising from 2.5m to 3.3m (1951-1955) and television ownership growing four-fold
- Conspicuous consumption characterised the period, though prosperity was unevenly distributed - by 1960, most working-class families still lacked cars, washing machines, and refrigerators
- Grammar schools offered limited social mobility; 75% of children had their educational fate sealed at age 11, and the system largely confirmed rather than broke class structures
- Despite affluence, Britain remained deeply class-divided, with divisions evident in jobs, lifestyles, language, and social attitudes
- Hire-purchase agreements and television advertising fuelled aspirational consumption, encouraging people to believe they could improve their material circumstances